


Star Trek: Goddess Light

by ojisandavid



Category: Star Trek: The Next Generation (Movies), Star Trek: The Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Astronomy, Gen, Post-Movie: Star Trek Generations (1994)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-27
Updated: 2020-03-30
Packaged: 2021-02-23 02:00:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23337265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ojisandavid/pseuds/ojisandavid
Summary: Guinan must challenge Captain Picard and a bloodthirsty inquisitor to save an astronomer who witnessed the destruction of the Enterprise on Veridian III.“Her people worship that planet as a goddess, and they won’t accept the idea that their goddess could be … violated,” said Guinan. “This woman reported what she saw and felt, and now she’s in danger. Some powerful people in her society are angry with her, but she refuses to lie about what she knows. I get the impression she’s very hard-headed.”Picard gave her a look. “I know a similar woman.”





	1. With Both Eyes Open

**Author's Note:**

> I originally posted this in 2011 at Ad Astra, a Star Trek fanfic site. After watching Star Trek: Generations, I wondered: what if the Veridian system was inhabited? Would they notice the firefight between the Enterprise and the rogue Klingon vessel carrying Soren? Would they see the spectacular crash landing of the Enterprise saucer section on Veridian III? How would an unplanned, indirect first contact affect a pre-warp world? Let’s find out.

> … All this is suggested by the systematic procession of events and the harmony of the whole Universe, if only we face the facts, as they say, ‘with both eyes open.’  
>  \-- Nicolaus Copernicus

“Turn!” 

A whip cracked, and a team of men strained against the heavy wooden wheel in the Observatory’s basement. The Observatory’s great dome creaked and shuddered away from the setting sun. The aperture slid open. Inside the dome, in a wicker chair slung beneath an array of mirrors and brass tubing, there sat a woman. She was a lady of a great family, to judge by the jewelry and the cut of her work gown. She peered through the crystal eyepiece. A smudge of light slid into the crosshairs. It resolved itself into a beautiful blue-green disc. Nearby was the strange churning ribbon of light that had appeared so suddenly in the heavens.

“And .. stop!” she called into her speaking tube. The men slumped at their posts, chests heaving. As usual, she felt their fatigue in her mind. Why must she have that burdensome gift? She sighed, picked up her quill and parchment, and eyed the disc in her lens.

“Well, Goddess of Evening,” she murmured. “What wonders will you have for us tonight?”

She made routine notes. Goddess waxing, almost full. White area to north slightly smaller than last observation. Large circular cloud mass in southern hemisphere. Goddess following Her path through the constellations on the cusp of...

Her pen stopped moving. A tiny but intense point of light had just appeared near the limb of the Goddess, joined after a moment by another. The lady hunched forward, scrawling again on her parchment as fast as she could.

Two objects. Bursts of light between them. A flare … One object gone. The other dimming – no, splitting into two pieces. Another flare, much brighter. Only one piece left. Now descending toward the Goddess…. A fiery veil.… A scratch across Her face!

The heavens grew quiet, as if all creation were holding its breath at the sacrilege. And then the lady saw a tiny streak of light shooting from the Goddess toward the Sun.

“Counterclockwise, seventy degrees! Now! Hurry!” she shouted. The dome swung around. The Sun still peeked above the horizon, as if waiting for this strange arrow from the Goddess. The lady held her breath. Even the men fell silent.

“Oh.”

The setting Sun faded from yellow to gray. She heard shouts and screaming in the streets outside. A faint glowing sphere expanded outward from the stricken Sun. Its dying breath, she thought with an odd detachment. A line from the liturgy ran through her head:

_The Sun adores the Goddess  
But his fiery breath condemns him  
To love Her from a distance_

“Turn back toward the Goddess!” Frightened as they were, the men were kept at their task by the overseer’s whip. They turned the dome. 

The Sun’s breath reached the Goddess just as that strange ribbon of light neared Her. She lost Her garments first, a gossamer stream of debris trailing away from Her like the tail of a comet. Then Her body exploded into a million pieces. The lady cried out. Something stabbed at her mind, a wave of pain. The Goddess? No – strange beings _on_ the Goddess! They died with Her. The lady felt one in particular, a being with a strong spark. _Guinan_. They regarded one another for a moment.

“No!” she shouted. “This isn’t right. Oh Goddess….” The Sun’s breath touched her world, and she was no more.

***

“All hands, brace for impact!”

Ryker’s ragged shout echoed through the saucer section of the _Enterprise_. The ship's secondary hull, destroyed in a core breach after their firefight with a rogue Klingon vessel, was already smearing into a thin ring of debris around Veridian III. The planet's surface came rushing towards the stricken saucer. Guinan hit the deck and curled into a ball, pressed against others in a crowded corridor. A little boy stumbled past, crying. She pulled him into her arms and held on.

The saucer gave a jolt. Bodies tumbled against the forward wall. A screeching, grinding roar drowned out their shouts. Guinan held tight to the crying boy, touching his mind with waves of calm. After an eternity the roar diminished and, finally, stopped.

Guinan lay still, mentally checking her body for injures. _Sore, a few bruises, and a cut on my shin_ , she thought. _I’ll live_. Her mind expanded out through the saucer. She sensed a fading wave of fear, the stab of broken bones, the dull ache of bruises. Mostly she felt relief at the sheer press of life around her.

The little boy hugged her and ran toward his mother. Guinan rose unsteadily to her feet. She could see the blue sky of Veridian III through the shattered bulkhead. A fresh breeze brushed her face. _What a beautiful world_ , she thought. _What a way to visit_. Others were stirring, checking each other for injuries, comforting the children. Guinan made her way toward Dr. Crusher to help with triage.

As she knelt by a wounded ensign, a line from an old Earth song ran through her head.

_The sun went out just like a dying ember  
In September…_

Guinan shot to her feet. “Oh please, no,” she said aloud. She squeezed her eyes shut and clutched her head. 

Dr. Crusher looked up. “Guinan! Are you alright?”

“No, this is all wrong! No….”

The world exploded.

Guinan, the saucer, the entire planet were swept away like leaves in a storm. As the maelstrom hit she heard – felt – the screams of her crew. The screams stopped as abruptly as they had started.

What had been Guinan was now a tiny shred of consciousness. She drifted in darkness. After a moment she felt a single cry, first of realization and then of fear. The mind behind the cry touched her own and paused in wonder. _Adria_. The two regarded one another. Then Guinan heard more minds. Many more.

A shrieking wind of terror and pain from millions of dying souls slammed into Guinan with more force than the first, physical shockwave. She and her strange companion disappeared, swept away in the hurricane.

***

Guinan shot upright in bed, bathed in sweat. She reached for her bedside lamp, but it wasn’t there. Where was she? What was going on? She paused and took a deep breath. _I’m on the_ Farragut _now_ , she thought to herself. _We’re all here. It’s alright. We’re light-years from Veridian III._

Calmer now, she considered her nightmare. It had the numinous quality of vision, the kind she had when she sensed another reality close to her own. It reassured her only slightly to know where the vision had come from. She had corroborating evidence in Captain Picard’s report: about his initial failure to defeat Soran on Veridian III, his trip through the Nexus, his encounter with the echo of Guinan, his meeting with Captain Kirk, and their return to this timeline to prevent Soran from destroying the Veridian system in his mad attempt to enter the Nexus. _At least I know I’m not crazy_ , she thought.

But where did those millions of screams come from? She paused a moment. _Veridian IV_ , she thought. _Of course. The next planet out. Inhabited._ Another pause. _They call their planet Ellandrus_. Then she remembered that single cry just before the wave of death struck her. _Adria_. This woman had realized what was coming just before Ellandrus was torn apart. How could she have known?

Guinan quieted her mind and reached out. _A scientist – an astronomer. With powerful psychic ability. She saw and felt something in this timeline too_. Guinan continued to probe. _She didn’t keep it to herself. Now she fears for her life_.


	2. Holy Writ

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After making psychic contact with Guinan and sharing her observations of the Enterprise crash on Veridian III, Adria learns that the inquisitors are on her trail.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here I’m working to add more detail to the world of Veridian IV -- or Ellandrus, as the natives call it. We learn more about their state religion, their gender roles, and their reaction to seeing the Nexus and the spectacular crash of the Enterprise on the planet next door.

> By order of Her Serene Highness, this Society conducted an investigation into the strange heavenly events of last week. The events were observed by many noble and royal ladies – including Her Serene Highness – and therefore cannot be dismissed as idle male talk. However, a lady of high standing has upset the people with incorrect interpretations of these heavenly phenomena. To our shame, she is a Society member.
> 
> The events began the evening of Cycle 9, Day 34, with the appearance of a faint ribbon of light in the southerly heavens, in the house of the constellation Eurelia. Over the course of several nights the ribbon grew larger and began to take on the appearance of a thin cloud surrounded by perpetual lightning. As it grew, it became visible during the day.
> 
> At the twilight hour of Day 36 the ribbon waxed its largest, passing very near the Goddess of Evening. At about the same time, remarkable lights appeared in the sky near the Goddess. Lady Adria al’Minoa, Second Directress of the Royal Observatory, trained her telescope on this phenomenon. Her report describes two small but very bright objects moving near the Goddess, with brief bursts of light passing between them. One of the objects vanished, and the remaining object appeared to split in two. Up to this point Lady al’Minoa’s report, while unusual, accords with piety and right reason.
> 
> However, the lady insists that a piece of the object assaulted the Goddess and _scarred Her face_. She further claims to have had ethereal contact with a being _on the body of the Goddess_ who was somehow associated with this alleged scar. The al’Minoa family’s gift of mindsight is well known, but these are the heretical ravings of a madwoman.
> 
> Colleagues and priestesses alike have remonstrated with Lady al’Minoa and begged her to see reason, but she is adamant in her heresy. The Society hastens to assure the Royal Court and the Holy College that appropriate action will be taken.
> 
> – _From_ Proceedings of the Royal Astronomical Society,  
>  _Year 370 of the Lanopic Dynasty_

***

Adria picked at her breakfast. It had been another restless night of terrible dreams. Was she going mad? She frowned and shook her head. _I know what I saw. I know what I felt_.

Her manservant appeared at the doorway. “My lady, the Countess Mira has arrived.”

“Oh Goddess,” Adria said, stumbling out of her chair. “I look a fright. Show her to the sitting room, Ris. I’ll be there in a moment.”

After a hurried morning toilette, she went to greet her guest. The countess, a tall, handsome, silver-haired woman in a tapestry gown, perched stiffly on a settee. Adria sat next to her and forced a smile. “My lady, what a pleasure to see you. May I offer you a --”

“Young lady, this is not a social call,” Mira said sharply. “We have serious matters to discuss. I assume you’ve seen the Society’s report on you and your observations.”

“Yes ma’am, and I fail to understand why we are caving to the Holy College! I showed you the mark on the Goddess. You and the other ladies of the Observatory saw it through the telescope with your own eyes. Anyone can see it!”

“That is beside the point,” Mira replied. “The priestesses will never look through that telescope. Even if they did, they would find a way to deny what they saw. Which leaves you with no support in your claim that the Goddess was assaulted. If She can be scarred, then She is not all-powerful – and neither are Her priestesses.”

“I never said She was assaulted!” Adria said hotly. “The Goddess is a world, very much like ours—” the older woman gasped, but Adria forged ahead “—and something struck that world and left a small mark. It wasn’t an assault. It just was.”

“Leaving aside _that_ heresy for a moment,” Mira said, “what about these beings who you say invaded the Goddess’ body?”

“They weren’t invading,” Adria said. “I’m not sure who they were, but they meant the Goddess no harm. On the contrary, I believe they were trying to save Her. And us. ” She rose and walked to the window. The skies were a brilliant blue. “Oh Mira, do you know what this means? There are other beings in the heavens!”

“Holy Writ says the heavens are the habitation of the Goddess,” Mira replied, “and none other. Except her consort the Sun, of course. And the lesser fires of the stars.”

“You looked through the telescope!” said Adria. “Do you doubt the evidence of your own eyes? I linked with you to share my perceptions of the being named Guinan. Do you doubt the evidence of mindsight?”

“Adria, your mindsight is not at issue,” said Mira, avoiding the younger woman’s eyes. “You and your foremothers have always been among the mindseers. Your mother, Goddess keep her, shared her perceptions with me many times when we were at university together. But this is blasphemy.”

Adria exploded. “Mira, you’re a scientist! When did you start to sound like some obscurantist old priestess?”

“Young lady, your mother and I were observing the heavens before you were born.” Mira’s voice was cold. “I _am_ a scientist. As such, I am a realist. I know that if we upset the priestesses too much, they’ll shut the Observatory. They’ll burn our papers. They’ll suppress all that we’ve managed to learn. All our efforts – yours, mine, your mother’s – will have been for nothing. I cannot allow that to happen.”

Mira stood. “Adria, you must recant. If you do not, we have no choice but to remove you from your post at the Observatory and expel you from the Society.”

Adria stared at her, stricken. “I cannot recant,” she said. “You know that. I’ve studied the heavens all my life. The heavens _are_ my life. How can I turn back at the moment of our greatest discoveries?”

Mira threw up her hands. “You are your mother's daughter. If nothing else, Adria, think of your safety. The Holy College will come for you soon. If you won’t recant, then you must run. Get away as soon as you can.”

The two women walked to the door. Mira gave the younger woman a long, sad look. “You don’t live in the heavens, my dear. You are here, in this world. Please remember that.”


	3. A Similar Woman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adria’s life is in danger after she shares her observations of the Enterprise. Can Guinan convince a reluctant Picard to allow a rescue mission?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guinan schools Picard on the limits of the Prime Directive. I hope her argument makes sense and doesn’t run roughshod over canon. What do y’all think?

“Guinan, the Prime Directive is clear,” said Captain Picard. He paced about his temporary quarters on the _Farragut_. “I can’t let you go to Veridian IV.”

“Jean-Luc, we’ve already violated the Prime Directive, even if it was accidental,” Guinan said. She was not her usual placid self. “This astronomer on Veridian IV – Ellandrus – saw our fight with the Klingon ship. She saw the scar left by our saucer section on Veridian III.”

“Her telescope couldn’t have been powerful enough to make out significant details,” said Picard.

“She saw enough, and there’s more,” Guinan replied. “As I said, she also has psychic abilities. In the alternate timeline, where Soran succeeded, she and I made brief mental contact at the moment the Veridian system was destroyed. Our connection has carried over to this reality. She _felt_ us on Veridian III. She knows we were there.”

Guinan leaned forward in her seat. “Her people worship that planet as a goddess, and they won’t accept the idea that their goddess could be … violated. This woman reported what she saw and felt, and now she’s in danger. Some powerful people in her society are angry with her, but she refuses to lie about what she knows. I get the impression she’s very hard-headed.”

Picard gave her a look. “I know a similar woman.” He paused. “Guinan, we cannot make first contact with her world. Not only are they pre-warp, they're pre-industrial.”

Guinan waved a finger. “Jean-Luc, don’t be so literal. First contact can take many forms. It isn’t just beaming down to a planet and saying hello to the boss. In this case, she and I shared a telepathic experience. Neither of us intended it, but the fact remains. We’ve already made first contact.”

Picard was silent.

“She saw us and felt us,” Guinan continued. “Because of us, she’s about to lose her career, maybe even her life. Let me go and at least try to help. We have a moral obligation to this woman.”

There was a pause, and then Picard nodded. “This isn’t my ship, but the captain may be willing to grant me a personal favor. I’ll see if I can arrange a shuttlecraft and a pilot to take you to Veridian IV – or Ellandrus, I should say. You’ll have a few days at most.”

Guinan beamed. “Thank you, Jean-Luc.”

“What do we know of their biology and culture?” he asked. “Will you need a disguise?”

“They’re humanoid,” Guinan said. “They could walk into your hometown and not draw a second glance. As for their culture, I found a report from an anthropology expedition that observed them remotely about twenty years ago. It’s what you’d expect: a number of monarchies connected by trade routes and a shared religion. Each monarchy has a priestly class, an aristocracy, merchant guilds, peasants. The monarchs rule most of the planet except for a few remote islands and mountainous areas. Also, their society is extremely matriarchal. Ellandrian males are as powerless as Ferengi females.”

“A fascinating culture. I hope you’ll file a report on what you learn about them.”

“Of course.” She rose. “I owe you one, Jean-Luc.”

Picard took her hand. “My dear friend, you can repay me by coming back in one piece. If there’s to be another _Enterprise_ , I don’t want to launch her without you.”

***

Twilight made Adria nervous these days. Would the Sun rise again tomorrow? But this evening she feared for her own fate more than the Sun’s. Ris carried important papers to her coach, hidden in the trees behind her house. Her smallest telescope was loaded already, and she would pack her star charts later. Just now she stood on the front terrace overlooking her beloved gardens, bathed in soft Goddess-light. She hoped to take in this view again someday, but she was a practical woman. She could plant a new garden in the mountains.

Adria looked up at the heavens, a place she knew as well as her own home. And so she immediately noticed the odd star, low in the north. _No, it can’t be a star_. It was moving fast, and growing larger.

Adria heard a sound behind her like a thousand tiny bells. She turned. Swirls of light shimmered in midair, slowly taking on form and substance. Finally the light resolved into a figure dressed in flowing robes, with a smooth dark face and a smile as bright as the Goddess.

“Guinan,” she whispered.

“Hello, Adria. I thought you could use some company.”

They embraced, and Adria was surprised to find herself weeping.

“I’m not insane,” she sobbed. “You’re real. I knew it. Oh, I have so many questions.”

“And so do I,” said Guinan. “Let’s talk.”

***

In spite of my oft-repeated efforts and invitations, they have refused … to look at the planets or Moon or my telescope.  
– Galileo Galilei

***

The women sat on the broad stone terrace, deep in conversation, when they heard a commotion from the road.

“The priestesses!” Adria hissed. “How did I not feel them coming? Get inside!” She grabbed Guinan by the elbow and steered her indoors. Ris met them in the hallway.

“Any sign of them behind the house, boy?” Adria asked him.

 _Boy?_ Guinan raised an eyebrow.

“Only one, my lady, creeping through the bushes. I ... took care of him." Guinan noted the cut on Ris' forehead and the fresh bruises on his fists. "Please, go to the coach!”

The front door shook to thunderous knocking.

“Open up in the name of the high priestess!” a male voice shouted.

“Go, both of you,” Guinan ordered. “Get to your coach and ride as fast as you can. I’ll stall them.”

“But how will you get away?” said Adria. “How will you find us? I can’t allow a guest to come to harm.”

“You saw how I arrived,” Guinan said. “I have my ways. I’ll be fine.”

Adria bowed with her right hand raised, a gesture of gratitude and blessing that Guinan recognized from the anthropology reports. “Goddess keep you. And please be careful.” She and Ris hurried away.

Knocking turned to pounding. The door groaned under the assault. Guinan opened it to find two burly men wielding a battering ram.

“Gentlemen, you won’t be needing that,” Guinan said. Behind the men stood a woman in blue and green robes, with a sword and scabbard at her waist.

“Who are you?” the woman demanded.

“A friend of the lady’s. She isn’t here right now.”

“We’ll see about that.” The woman turned to her servants. “Search the house.” The men stormed past Guinan.

“May I ask who _you_ are?” said Guinan. “And what do you want with Lady Adria?”

The woman frowned. “You don’t recognize me?”

“No. I’m not from around here.”

“I am Nena, inquisitor to the high priestess. I am here to escort Lady Adria to a meeting of the Holy College. We are curious about her theories of the heavens.”

“Ah,” said Guinan. “She is a gifted astronomer.”

Nena snorted. “A gifted liar.”

“Really.” An edge crept into Guinan’s voice.

“She makes heretical claims contrary to the Writ of the Goddess,” Nena said. “Holy Writ is true. Therefore Adria lies.”

“She has the evidence of her telescope and her mind,” Guinan replied. “Have you looked through her telescope? Have you linked with her to share her mindsight?”

“We have no need for telescopes when we can see the truth before us. As for mindseers...” A dark-robed woman stepped out of the shadows behind Nena and fixed Guinan with a penetrating gaze. "We have our own, and they protect us from heretical 'seers like your friend." The priestess fingered the hilt of her sword. “Perhaps we should take you to the College as well.”

“No thanks,” said Guinan, and slammed the door in Nena’s face. She hurried into the darkened sitting room and pressed herself against the near wall. The inquisitor flung open the door.

“Where is that insolent woman?” she shouted. “And where is the heretic?”

Guinan tapped her communicator, wincing at the loud beep. “Guinan to shuttlecraft _Kepler_ ,” she whispered.

“ _Kepler_ here.”

“One to beam up.”

“No sign of anyone here, Your Grace,” said one of Nena’s men.

“Turn the house inside out,” the priestess said. “And when you’re finished, burn it to the ground.”

 _Willful ignorance is universal_ , Guinan thought, and disappeared.


	4. Centuries of Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The inquisitors make their move against Adria, Ris rises to his lady’s defense, Adria is forced to confront her prejudices, and Guinan realizes how much is riding on this adventure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Action scenes don’t come easily for me, but I think this one turned out well. Thoughts?

Dawn filtered through the forest canopy and picked out the golden crest on the door of Adria’s coach. Ris dozed on the driver’s bench. Tethered to a nearby tree, an enormous equine animal grazed. Adria lay on her seat inside the coach, watching the creature through the window. _My_ kanta _looks none the worse for wear_ , she thought. She glanced down at her rumpled gown and fingered her tangled hair. _I wish I could say the same_.

The animal looked up from its meal and grunted. Adria tensed. She felt a lurch as Ris leapt from his bench atop the coach.

“Who goes there?” he called. “Oh. Good morning, ma’am.”

“Good morning, Ris,” came a warm voice. Adria clambered out of the coach, giddy with exhaustion and relief.

“Guinan!” Adria cried. They embraced. “Thank the Goddess. Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” Guinan replied. “I had a lovely conversation with a woman named Nena and then I … slipped out.”

Adria’s face fell. “The chief inquisitor,” she said. “This is worse than I thought.”

“There’s more,” Guinan said. “A party of riders is coming this way. Nena’s heading it up. They have a mindseer of their own who seems able to cloak them from us.”

“Guinan, you trailed them?” Adria said, alarmed. “If they’d seen or sensed you, you might have been killed. Really, I can’t allow you to endanger yourself on my account again.”

Guinan smiled. “Please don’t worry. I was safely aboard the craft that brought me here. It has instruments that allow us to see things from a distance. Like a telescope, but with more detail.”

“In that case, thank you for the warning,” Adria said. “Are they close behind us?”

“A half hour at most. They’re riding hard. Even Nena’s out of her coach and saddled up.”

Adria frowned. “They’ll know we’re heading for the Irina Gorge,” she said. “It’s the only route into the mountains from here. We’ll leave the coach. My kanta can carry both of us.”

“Both?” asked Guinan. “But there are three of us here. What about Ris?”

Ris cringed. Adria looked surprised. “What about him?”

“What about him?” said Guinan, incredulous. “He’ll be killed if they catch him!”

“Um, Lady Guinan,” he said, “the kanta is strong but the three of us would slow him down too much. The inquisitor’s party will be on fine racing kantas. I know her groomsmen. I’ve seen them train.” He took a breath. “If I stay here, maybe I can distract them and give you more time to get away.”

Guinan turned to Adria. “You would leave this brave man here to die?”

“If we take him we all die,” Adria said flatly. “He’s a good boy, but he’s just a male.”

The kanta snorted, looked around, and shifted in its traces. Ris absently clicked his tongue to calm it.

“ _Just_ a male? A good _boy_?” Guinan said. “I overestimated you, Adria.”

In her confusion and embarrassment, Adria at first failed to register the next few moments. A woman, dressed in leathers, leapt from behind the kanta. With her back to the beast, she raised a hunting bow and sighted down the arrow. 

“Hands up,” she said calmly. “If any of you move, I will shoot the heretic.” 

“Oh damn,” Guinan whispered to Adria. “Of course they’d have scouts. I’m sorry, Adria.”

“You did your best,” she whispered back.

Two men emerged from the woods and took up station behind them. In her peripheral vision, Guinan saw Ris staring intently at the kanta. He cut his eyes toward Guinan and gave the faintest hint of a nod. She returned it.

“Men, bind them,” said the scout. 

Earlier, Ris had calmed the beast with a simple click. And now, with a piercing whistle, he maddened it. The kanta screamed and reared in its traces. A hoof struck the scout in the back, and she went down. Ris was already airborne, leaping toward the stricken woman. Guinan whirled and kicked the advancing man behind her. He grabbed her foot but lost his own balance as Adria slammed into him. The three went down in a pile, the man’s arms around the astronomer.

Guinan saw Ris strike the other man in the head with the scout’s hunting bow. He turned and his eyes widened. “My lady!” he shouted. And the man who was about to strike Adria never knew what hit him. Guinan pulled the shaking woman toward her and away from the maddened Ris, who was punching the man over and over.

After leaning Adria against the coach, she returned to him. “Enough, Ris!” she said. “He can’t hurt her now. Stop.”

He turned. “Oh. Oh yes, Lady Guinan.” He gently lowered the body to the ground. His own body slumped. “He was about to... He was …”

“Ris!” Guinan shook him by the shoulders. His tear-filled eyes focused on her. “We’ve lost time. There’s dust rising down the valley. Go help your lady. We have to run, right now!” 

Ris hurried to the coach and helped Adria to her feet. “My papers!” she gasped. “They’ll destroy my papers!” He threw open the coach door and pulled out the heavy trunk. 

“Forget the trunk!” Guinan said. “We have to move!”

Ris gave her a stricken look. “Lady Guinan, please...”

 _And how long would it take this world to regain the knowledge in that trunk?_ Guinan thought. _Imagine centuries of night_.

“All right, Ris, but we must hurry.” The man didn't quite understand what Guinan said next. Something about a Jean-Luc hating what she was about to do.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Guinan bends the Prime Directive further to save her new friends -- and to save the fledgling science of astronomy on Veridian IV. Adria and Ris face a choice: to stay on their backward planet or go to the stars with Guinan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it! Is Guinan justified in exposing her Ellandrian friends to Federation technology? Does the ending leave you with All The Feels as intended? Let me know.

A chime announced an incoming message aboard the shuttlecraft _Kepler_. Lt. James Tiberius Choi -- his proud parents just _knew_ he'd go into Starfleet -- looked up at the viewscreen.

“Guinan to _Kepler_."

“ _Kepler_ here,” Choi replied. He saw Guinan ducking behind a boulder. Two Ellandrians ran up behind her. The man was struggling beneath the weight of a large trunk.

She unrolled a parchment and placed it on the ground before her. “I want you to beam up this map. There’s a location marked in red. Please find the coordinates, then beam myself and my two friends there. And hurry. We have enemies closing on our position.”

“Ma’am, there may be some questions from Starfleet….”

“I understand. I take full responsibility.”

Choi rolled his eyes. He couldn't wait for _this_ inquiry. The El-Aurian grinned up at the shuttle's long-range cameras. He sighed. _I am such a sucker_. “Yes, ma’am,” he said aloud.

"When Ten Forward is back up and running, Jimmy, I owe you a drink," she said.

He watched as Guinan set the map on the ground. The Ellandrian woman gasped as it disappeared.

Choi hurried to the transport pad and picked up the beautiful hand-illuminated parchment. He held it to his nose. There were many things he loved about his job in Starfleet, and the scent of a new world was one of them.

He ran back to his console and pulled up a surface map of the planet he was learning to call Ellandrus. The shuttle's computer scanned the parchment map into memory and laid it over its own rendering. He tweaked the controls. The overlay stretched like taffy as the computer reconciled the two projections. The parchment was as much visual poetry as it was a functional map, and he corrected the computer's efforts with intuitive leaps of his own.

"Mapping complete," the computer announced. Choi tapped a spot on the screen. The two maps agreed.

“This is _Kepler_ ," he said. "Ready when you are, ma’am.”

“Three for surface-to-surface transport,” Guinan replied, “and one item of cargo.”

Choi nodded sympathetically at Ris’ surprised cry. He'd squealed even louder on his own first beam-out.

***

The setting sun was a blaze of color behind a rocky ridge. The only other light came from a small fire near the mouth of a cave. Ris sat cross-legged by the flames, roasting a small creature for stew. He sang quietly to himself. Guinan lay in the soft grass, listening to him. Adria paced nearby, pausing occasionally to look up at the stars emerging from the twilight glow.

“Come and sit, dear,” Guinan said. “You’re making me tired. And Ris is ready with our meal.”

Adria accepted a bowl of stew. “Guinan, I’m not sure what to do." She frowned. “How did it come to this? Why won’t the priestesses look through a telescope? Why won’t anyone listen to my evidence? Has there ever been such an obstinate society as ours?”

“Many societies prefer belief over knowledge,” Guinan replied. “On a world called Earth there was once an astronomer, a man named Galileo--"

"A man? A male astronomer?" Ris said, and then blushed at his own outburst. 

"Oh yes, Ris," Guinan said. "He learned about the theories of another male astronomer, named Copernicus, who thought Earth orbited its sun and not the other way around, as their religion taught. Galileo built a telescope and made observations that supported the Copernican theory. As far as he was concerned, he was just gathering knowledge. To the religious authorities, he was committing heresy.

“They refused to look through his telescope or check his calculations. Instead they demanded he repudiate his findings, as if that would stop Earth from moving around its sun. Finally they forced him to recant, but according to legend he whispered, ‘And still it moves.’”

“Did the people of Earth ever accept his findings?” Adria asked.

“Yes, they did. Later generations built on the knowledge of Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, and many other men and women. Eventually they used that knowledge to leave their homeworld and explore the stars. In fact, they helped me get here. We're all part of the Federation.”

"Where is this Federation?" Adria asked.

Guinan waved expansively at the night sky, now brilliant with stars. "Everywhere you look," she replied.

Adria gazed up, her eyes bright.

“Now you have a decision to make," Guinan said. "You’ve learned much more about my society and its technology than our leaders would think proper. You may have a hard time functioning in your own world after this. And of course there’s the matter of your safety. The way I see it, each of you has a choice: you can stay here and tough it out, or you can leave with me.”

“Go with you?” Adria gasped. “What would we do in your world? Compared to you, we’re just male … I mean, we’re just savages.”

“Hardly,” said Guinan, ignoring the slip. “I’ve met people from supposedly advanced worlds who don’t have a fraction of your intellect, Adria – or your courage, Ris.” The man blushed again.

“You’d need training and counseling to adjust to Federation society,” she continued, “but I have no doubt you’d do very well. Adria, you could travel the heavens and map them with instruments more powerful than you can imagine. And Ris, you could make your own decisions and be your own man; do anything you choose.”

“I’m not sure what I would want to do,” he said in a small voice. “No one has ever asked me.”

“I’m asking you now,” Guinan said. “What’s your dream?”

Ris looked nervously toward Adria and then down at his lap. “I, uh, I’ve always wanted to see what the lady sees when she looks through her telescope. I’ve always wanted to know what she knows about the heavens. And I’d like to… help her in her studies, if she could stand a bumbling man in her way.”

Adria stared at him. “Ris, I never knew. I had no idea.” She looked stricken. “I never asked.”

“Now you know,” Guinan said gently.

“Yes," she said finally. "Yes, I think Ris would make an excellent assistant. No, an excellent _astronomer_. That is, if he can tolerate working with me. I’m told I can be … difficult.”

Ris dared to look Adria in the face. “I’ll manage, my lady.” Guinan saw the look between them, and smiled.

Adria absently finished her meal, but her mind was elsewhere. After awhile, Ris and Guinan made out their bedrolls and went to sleep. Adria stayed awake, and looked up at the sky. The stars twinkled. The Goddess shone down on her.

At last, she reached a decision.

***

El-Aurians pass the centuries with the ease of seasoned travelers. For Guinan, the twenty-seventh century wasn't much different from the twenty-fourth. She still tended bar on a Starfleet ship of the line, an ideal job for a listener with a taste for adventure. She mourned old friends and made new ones, always ready with a drink and an ear.

Business was slow just now, and Guinan took a moment to sit in her comfortable armchair behind the bar.

The captain liked to tease her about the chair. “What kind of bartender sits down on the job?” she’d ask.

“The kind who’s been working since before your people figured out how to keep beer cold,” Guinan would retort. She could play the old woman when she wanted.

“Computer, any messages?” Guinan asked.

“There is a report from your searchbot.”

“Subject?”

“News from PublicNet concerning Veridian IV, also known as Ellandrus.”

“Go on.”

The computer recited: “A chemically propelled spacecraft was launched from the surface of Ellandrus at 2130 hours yesterday. Long-range sensors detected the launch signature and a probe was sent to investigate. The probe confirmed the existence of the craft and is now capturing this live holoimage.” A small gray cylinder appeared before Guinan’s face. She reached out to the image and rotated it with her fingertips.

The computer continued: “In approximately twenty standard days the vehicle will enter orbit around Veridian III, known to the Ellandrians as the Goddess of Evening. Radio transmissions monitored by the probe indicate that three crew members are aboard. Two of them, one male and one female, will descend to the surface of the planet in a landing module before returning home. End of report.”

Guinan zoomed in on the side of the craft, where Ellandrian script was visible. “Computer, can you translate this inscription?” she asked.

“Affirmative. It reads ‘HMS _Adria_.’”

Guinan said nothing, but the computer could guess at her train of thought. Other images, drawn from Guinan's files, began to appear around the Ellandrians’ little craft. A sunlit mountain valley, with a man and woman standing together and waving up at the sky. A planet slowly turning, stately as a goddess in garments of blue and white and green. A starship, her lines antique to modern eyes but still powerful, graceful, beautiful. A man in a captain's uniform, opening a gift-wrapped box and silently exclaiming at the hand-illuminated parchment map inside. Faces, many of them, silently smiling and laughing and speaking to her from their places in time. 

“ _I rather believe that time is a companion_ ,” said Captain Picard in her memory, “ _who goes with us on the journey and reminds us to cherish every moment, because it will never come again_.”

Guinan carefully regarded each image in the cloud. And then she let them fade, all but the little spacecraft on its lonely journey.

After awhile, a young ensign sat down at the bar. He watched Guinan’s holoimage with interest.

“What have you got there, ma’am?” he asked. “A paleorocketry course?”

Guinan turned to the ensign with a smile. Her cheeks were wet. “No, a message from an old friend.”

“What’s the message?”

Her smile grew radiant. “‘And still it moves,’” she said.


End file.
